Weltyesque
Eudora Welty is arguably the most Weltyesque of writer. That’s a joke, of course, but even a cursory reading of Welty’s fiction will quickly reveal her supreme gift for painting scenes with words. The second paragraph of the novel forces the reader to dive headlong into this portraiture with a sublime pageantry of metaphorical imagery that is capable of leaving only the least imaginative of readers struggling for the vision she saw in her mind as she sat down to write:
"As his foot touched shore, the sun sank into the river the color of blood, and at once a wind sprang up and covered the sky with black, yellow, and green clouds the size of whales, which moved across the face of the moon."
“Guilt is a burdensome thing to carry about in the heart.”
The metaphor of guilt as being something that weighs upon one as they try to navigate the uncertain footing of life is very poetic in its own proverbial sense, but more to the point it is quite telling that Jamie is the one who would give voice to this concept. Jamie, as both bandit and gentleman, personifies the dualistic theme of the story and that he asserts no bondage to guilt should implicate him to freedom from the consequences of guilt. That proves not to be entirely so.
A Very Good Thing She's Rich
The puckish little Goat proves himself a master of metaphorical image-spinning as well when he insists that the novels female protagonist is rich. Indeed, his mind calculates, she must certainly be rich and benefit greatly from that wealth since she’s also:
“as tall as a house, as dark as down a well, and as old as the hills”
“Mike Fink woke up with a belch like the roar of a lion.”
Welty’s novel is a curious amalgam of fairy tale, folk tale and tall tale and one of the great heroes of the American literary genre of the tall tale comes alive for a brief cameo appearance. He proves himself capable of making that appearance known through similes that connect to his metaphorical basis for legend. Welty knows when to eschew the poetry and settle for the familiar.
Attaining the Happily Ever After
In order for the fairy tale component of the narrative to arrive a happily ever after ending, one very important issue must be addressed: namely, that dualism in Jamie Lockhart which allows him to be good and bad, gentlemen and bandit, guilty and guiltless at all once. If he is to win the hand of the fair damsel, such ambiguity must be directly addressed and properly resolved. And so it is through an economy of language with a metaphor at the center appropriately timeless and clear:
“Jamie Lockhart was now no longer a bandit but a gentleman of the world in New Orleans, respected by all that knew him, a rich merchant in fact All his wild ways had been shed like a skin, and he could not be kinder to her than he was.”
